That time Lenny Breau played bass with Terry Hawkeye's Quintet in 1961

Here's a rare audio clip of guitar great Lenny Breau playing bass in drummer Terry Hawkeye's combo at Edmonton's Yardbird Suite.

Here's the scoop...

In 1961 drummer Terry Hawkeye hired Lenny Breau to play bass in a band featuring trumpeter Michael Downs who had recently performed and recorded with Philly Joe Jones. Dale Hillary, the alto sax player on this gig, had also worked with Jones and Downs and had brought Downs back to Canada from San Francisco the previous year. Downs played often in Edmonton and Vancouver over the next few years.

Hawkeye had probably met Lenny through his good friend and mentor pianist Bob Erlendson who was a well known figure in the Western Canadian jazz scene. Lenny and Bob had been working six nights a week at the Stage Door in Winnipeg with Lenny often playing Bob's 1957 Hofner "Violin Bass", which he used on the Yardbird Suite gig. This instrument later became known as the Beatle Bass when Paul McCartney began using it on early Beatles albums and performances. In 1961, it was virtually unheard of to perform jazz on an electric bass so Lenny was something of a pioneer in this regard.

The band performed their two week gig at the Yardbird Suite in Edmonton, Alberta, one of Canada's premier and longest running jazz clubs. The show was broadcast live to air by the University of Alberta's CKUA radio with CBC host Glen Buick announcing. The station recorded two tunes on an acetate disc: 'Spontaneous Combustion' and 'Blue'n Boogie'. Lenny takes a solo on the first tune at 07:27.

Although Lenny played bass often with groups between 1960 and 1964 and was highly regarded for his playing on the instrument, this is the only known recording of him playing bass.

00:15      announcer intro

00:50      Spontaneous Combustion

10:03      announcer patter

10:43      Blue 'n Boogie

Listen below. For more rare Lenny Breau clips, check out The Lenny Breau Archives channel on YouTube right here.